The
US Navy made Pax River history July 29 after it
conducted the naval air station's historic first
flight of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System
(UCAS) demonstrator. At 11 a.m., the tailless,
unmanned aircraft launched from Pax River and
flew for a planned 35 minutes. The aircraft reached
an altitude of 7,500 feet and an air speed of
180 knots during its flight over the Chesapeake
Bay before successfully landing back at Pax River.

Pictures
of a new Chinese Carrier-based AWACS aircraft (JZY-01) have emerged

Pictures
of the first prototype of the Chinese carrier
based Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)
plane JZY-01 have emerged on the Chinese internet.
The new platform looks to be based on the Y-7
aircraft produced by Xian Aircraft Industrial
Corporation, but modified for carrier operations.

Eurocopter
Delivers 2 NH90 Caiman to France’s DGA for their Deployment by
the French Army & Navy

The
ceremony celebrating this dual delivery was held
at Marignane, the manufacturer’s headquarters,
and was attended by the DGA, Dominique Maudet,
Eurocopter Group’s Executive Officer for
France & Vice President of Global Business
and Services, and a number of representatives
from France’s armed forces.

Russia
will begin building new aircraft carriers after
2020, Russian navy chief Viktor Chirkov said on
Thursday, in a major boost to Moscow's ability
to deploy air power abroad. “At the moment,
the construction bureau has received its assignment,
the documents are being processed, and the money
for the construction program has been allocated,”
Chirkov said.

According
to rumors (infosdefense.com), the Republic of
Singapore Navy is about to start negotiations
with France for the possible purchase of 4 Scorpene
class SSKs. The deal could include transfer of
technologies.

HMS
Sutherland has stopped off at Gibraltar to take
part in a series of gunnery exercises as she begins
her six-month deployment. The Rock was the first
port of call for the Devonport frigate as she
makes her way towards the Indian Ocean to take
over from HMS Westminster on a counter-terrorism/counter-piracy
patrol.

On
March 26 2012, Algeria’s ministry of defence
ordered two Meko A200 frigates from ThyssenKrupp
Marine Systems (TKMS). The German shipyard will
supply two Meko frigates to Algeria including
helicopters. The contract includes the construction
of a dockyard in Algeria for the local assembly
of two more frigates.

DCNS:
Profitable Growth Continues in First Half of 2012 in Line with Championship
Strategic Plan

“DCNS
performed very well during the first half of 2012.
Our growth was in line with our target to double
Group revenue between 2010 and 2020. The outstanding
commitment of all DCNS teams contributed to the
further increase of our performance, once again
in line with our targets. These achievements improve
our competitiveness on our key markets while enabling
us to invest in the future. Despite the current
economic environment, this is all to our advantage
as we strive for success,” said Patrick
Boissier, Chairman & CEO of DCNS.

The
Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) conducted a live-firing
of the Barak anti-missile missile in the South
China Sea earlier today as part of the 18th annual
Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT)
exercise which Singapore is conducting with the
United States. The missile was fired by the upgraded
RSN missile corvette RSS Victory against an air
drone target simulating an attacking profile.
The target was successfully destroyed.

A
MiG-29KUB two-seat naval fighter jet made the
first touch-and-go landings last week on the Indian
Navy aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, Sevmash shipyard
said on Monday. The ship is currently undergoing
sea trials in the Barents Sea off the north coast
of Russia.

Boeing
on July 17 delivered the second production P-8A
Poseidon aircraft to the U.S. Navy. The P-8A is
one of 13 low rate initial production (LRIP) maritime
patrol aircraft that Boeing is building for the
Navy as part of two contracts awarded in 2011.
Navy
pilots flew the P-8A from Seattle to Naval Air
Station Jacksonville, Fla., where the first LRIP
P-8A is being used for aircrew training.

Insitu
Pacific, the Australia-based affiliate of Insitu
Inc., announced today it has extended and expanded
its existing Australian Defence Force contract
with the Australian Army to include the provision
of ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) services
for trials with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
ScanEagle will be installed on a number of RAN
vessels commencing with a first-of-class flight
trial on a Frigate in September 2012.

US
Navy carriers prepare for X-47B UCAS unmanned aircraft arrival next
year

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md.
— The Navy is one year away from landing
its first unmanned jet aircraft aboard a carrier
after completing the most recent round of surrogate
tests aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).

Boeing
on June 29 received a firm-fixed-price contract
from U.S. Naval Air Systems Command for the production
of nearly 90 Harpoon Block II missiles and associated
hardware for the U.S. and four foreign militaries.
The $145.1 million contract also includes exercise
and test variants of the Standoff Land Attack
Missile Expanded Response (SLAM ER). The first
missile deliveries are scheduled for this August
and contract work is expected to run through December
2013.

The
United Kingdom accepted the first international
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft in
a ceremony today with senior representatives of
the U.K. Ministry of Defence and the U.S. Department
of Defense.

The
Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Thales UK are working
to commercialise the UK’s fully digital
radar electronic support measures (RESM) system,
which has had its first use in the Royal Navy’s
Type 45 destroyer fleet.

Lockheed
Martin announced July 17th 2012 that it has completed
on-orbit testing of the first Mobile User Objective
System (MUOS) satellite, designated MUOS-1, paving
the way for the U.S. Navy’s multi-service
operational test and evaluation phase in preparation
for the start of operations in August 2012.

The
second Boeing P-8I aircraft for the Indian Navy
completed its initial flight on July 12, taking
off from Renton Field at 3:29 p.m. and landing
two hours and 14 minutes later at Boeing Field
in Seattle. The P-8I, a derivative of the Boeing
Next-Generation 737-800 commercial airplane, is
the second of eight long-range maritime reconnaissance
and anti-submarine warfare aircraft Boeing is
building for India.

Bluefin
Robotics, a leading provider of Unmanned Underwater
Vehicle (UUV) solutions for US Navy Programs of
Record announced today that the company has successfully
completed the Preliminary Design Review for Knifefish,
the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater
Vehicle (SMCM UUV).

The
Singapore shipyard ST Marine and Thales Nederland
have signed a contract for the delivery and installation
of sensors and a combat management system that
will be installed on the four Al-Ofouq class patrol
vessels that are to be built for the Sultanate
of Oman.

DCNS
is supplying two BPC-type projection and command
vessels to Russia under a contract that came into
effect at the end of 2011. Three of these vessels
are already in service with the French Navy. The
design modifications needed to adapt the BPC concept
to Russia's specific requirements are progressing
as planned.

The
Indian Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the Vikramaditya,
has headed into the Barents Sea for second-stage
sea trials, as part of its refit by Russia's Sevmash
shipyard, Captain Vadim Serga of Russia's Northern
Fleet information service said on Monday.

Lockheed
Martin’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM)
sensor suite recently completed its first flight
during a captive carry flight test off the coast
of northwest Florida using a modified Sabreliner
business jet.